Influence of monotonous work and body sensory vibration stimulus on physiological responses

Abstract

The objective of this study was to monitor changes in physiological indexes of alpha attenuation coefficient (AAC), high-frequency component (HF) and oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyHb) as objective parameters and Roken Arousal Scale (RAS) as a subjective parameter in experimental participants performing simple tasks related to motor skills, as necessary for safe driving. The oxyHb signal was monitored from the frontal association and somatosensory areas using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), which can measure changes in brain hemodynamics during tasks noninvasively and without constraint. Experimental results showed oxyHb and AAC increased, while HF and tracking error decreased when experimental participants were exposed to body sensory vibrations. From these findings, we suggest that body sensory vibration stimuli are valid for monotonous work. In conclusion, we showed the usability of body sensory vibration stimuli for monotonous work such as UniMove, with influences on the autonomic and central nervous systems.